1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adhering member, and a method for producing the adhering member. More specifically, the invention relates to an adhering member having a liner on an adhesive layer, and a method for producing the adhering member.
2. Description of a Related Art
In recent years, various adhering members have been developed, such as percutaneously absorbed preparations for administering drugs through the skin, and adhesive plasters. FIGS. 6 and 7 are perspective views each showing an example of such an adhering member. In the adhering member, an adhesive layer 2 is laminated on a backing 1 comprising a cloth or a plastic film. A so-called liner 3 is provided on the adhesive layer 2 in order to protect an exposed surface of the adhesive layer 2, or to enhance the supporting properties of the flexible backing 1 and improve the operability (handleability) of the adhering member when applied to the skin.
These adhering members are excellent from the point of view of administering drugs continuously through the skin, or protecting wounded sites. To improve the performance of adhering members, technological developments of adhesives and backings have been encouraged, and advances in these materials are made year by year.
At the final stage of development of adhering members, however, problems often arise about their cost, operability, and stability meaning that pharmaceutical components of percutaneously absorbed preparations, etc. have to be retained up to a time when the preparations are used. Solving these problems often poses difficulty. The problem about the cost, in particular, is often fatal, leading to redesigning. The problem concerned with stability, if any, may be soluble by a packaging material for sealed packaging of the adhering member. In this case, the cost of the packaging material is so high as to disadvantage the development of the adhering member.
If a problem occurs about operability, it may be solved by a mere improvement in the releasability of the liner. Formation of, say, a half-cut of a suitable linear shape in the liner can resolve the problem. For example, the linear shape of the half-cut (the shape of a line appearing on the surface of the liner) is changed from a straight line as shown in FIG. 6 to a wavy line as show in FIG. 7, whereby the release properties can be improved to solve the problem of operability. These half-cuts 4 can be formed by cutting the liner 3, laminated on the adhesive layer 2, by means of a die cutting roll. In the drawings, the numerals 3a, 3a denote liner pieces divided by the half-cut 4.
However, a mere change in the line shape of the half-cut 4 may result in poor stability. Thus, this measure cannot be an effective measure capable of relieving the above-described problems overall while taking the stability and the manufacturing cost into account. Changing the shape of the line, moreover, also requires a change in the shape of the cutter, presenting a disadvantage to the cost. Thus, even if the problem of stability can be solved, a new problem of cost will arise.